Knowing how much RAM (System Memory) you need for working in Photoshop can be quite tricky at times because there are so many factors to keep in mind.
Therefore, I’ve put together this guide that will answer all your questions about RAM/Memory usage when Editing Images.
First of all, the total Memory usage can be split up into 2 main parts:
- How much RAM does your Photo Editing Software need?
- How much RAM does the rest of your typical System need to run efficiently?
Let’s start with the second one so we have that out of the way.
Just in case you are looking for some quick RAM recommendations, this is one of the best performing Memory Kits you can buy. The value is great, and if you are upgrading your RAM, do take a look at the 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200MHz RAM.
That said, let’s begin:
How much RAM does a typical Computer need to run?
To make this easier, I’ll describe an average Photo Editor’s Computer. It runs Win 10, has a browser such as Chrome open with some tabs, an Email Software, and a Windows Photo-Viewer.
Chrome is using 1.3 GByte, the Foto Viewer about 250 MByte, your Email Software another 125 MByte and so on. Let’s take a look at what Win 10 uses with only these 3 additional Programs started:
6 GByte of RAM is used, just so the System and some Regular programs can run.
Now that we know how much RAM a typical System uses just to run, I’ll show you how much additional RAM you will need for Photo Editing in Photoshop:
How much RAM does Photoshop need?
This is how can you find out how much RAM you are currently using for Photoshop and how much you will probably need depending on your use case.
After a fresh start of Photoshop, without having any Images loaded, the Software itself needs 262MByte of RAM. Start your Task Manager and see for yourself:
Now, after opening a 5MByte JPG 12MP 8bpc (bits per channel) Image, your RAM usage increases to 369 MByte.
Why does it increase over 100 MByte? My Image File Size is only about 5 MByte?
Image Compression
Well, the answer is, your Photo Editing Software decompresses any compressed Image File types to make them editable.
JPG is a compressed Image file type, as are PNG and GIF. By using compression algorithms, the Software can decrease file-size, without losing noticeable Quality. An Image, of course, can only be compressed to a certain degree until a quality loss is noticeable.
The reason why a Photo Editing Software decompresses an Image during editing is that your photo manipulations are done on a pixel basis, and having to compress the Image after every pixel-change, will make the editing very slow and CPU intensive.
Bit Depth
Another factor for calculating how much RAM you need to edit an uncompressed Image is Bit Depth.
Typically you edit your Images in RGB mode, meaning you have three channels (R, G, and B) and every channel will be able to save 8 bits or 256 different values.
Simplified Illustration of Bit-Depth on Monitors
8 bits per channel, 256 Values per Channel (or Color). All your JPG Images are in 8bpc or 24bpp (bits per pixel).
Resolution
The next important factor, of course, is Image resolution. The Math, fortunately, is quite easy:
[Pixel Amount in Width] x [Pixel Amount in Height] x [Bit Depth] x [Number of Channels] divided by 8,000,000.
Why 8 Million? Because 8 Bits are one Byte and a Megabyte are 1000000 Byte.
This will give you the Uncompressed Image Size in MByte that resides in your RAM. If you only have one Layer!
Layers in Photoshop
If you have more than one Layer, you can roughly multiply the amount of RAM usage per Image by the number of Layers.
Also, in Photoshop you can easily find how much RAM your uncompressed Image is currently using by looking at the bottom left corner. The first number is without Layers, the second with all Layers accounted for.
How much Ram do you need for Photoshop?
Ok, this was difficult enough, let’s look at this table, where all Important factors above have already been considered:
RAM needs per Photoshop Layer
| Resolution (Megapixels) | 8bpc | 10bpc | 16bpc | 32bpc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8MP | 24 MByte | 30 MByte | 48 MByte | 96 MByte |
| 12MP | 36 MByte | 45 MByte | 72 MByte | 144 MByte |
| 16MP | 48 MByte | 60 MByte | 96 MByte | 192 MByte |
| 20MP | 60 MByte | 75 MByte | 120 MByte | 240 MByte |
Great, now you can roughly estimate or calculate how much RAM a single Image will need.
Now, to truly estimate How much RAM you will need for Photo Editing, all you’ll have to consider is:
- What Bit Depth do you edit Images in (usually 8Bpc for JPGs, 16bpc for RAW Files)?
- How many Images do you have open at the same time?
- How many Layers do your Images usually have on average?
- How much RAM does my System need additionally?
That said, if you don’t want to calculate it yourself but just want a quick recommendation here it is:
On Win 10 and Photoshop, 8 – 16GByte of RAM will be more than enough for most of your tasks when editing JPG Photos in the 10 – 20 Megapixel range and the occasional RAW Image.
If you are a power user, who edits mainly in higher Bit depths and Resolutions and might have lots of other RAM-intensive Software running in the background, consider 16 – 32 GByte of RAM.
Looking for some quick RAM recommendations? This is one of the most popular Memory Kit there is: 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200MHz RAM
Be sure to give our PC Guide for Photo Editing a read if you’re in the market for buying a new Computer.
That’s about it, have I missed anything? Let me know in the comments.
Hi I use a MacBook Pro. Before it has just 8G of memory with a solid state sata 240G disk, after upgrades to 16G of memory Photoshop start to freeze. So what happened here..?
Hi Martin,
Sorry to hear that – must be very frustrating to see Photoshop freeze when you’ve just doubled your MacBook Pro’s RAM. However, there is little to go on to really identify what’s causing Photoshop to freeze. If I may ask, what version of Photoshop are you using? When do you exactly see Photoshop start to freeze? Did you make any changes in your system after upgrading your RAM?
Cheers,
Alex
I am use intel i3 3220, 2 core 4 there bat slow wark leging, i am new pc build suggestion please help? Photoshop cc 2020 processor, ram, graphics card. My wark photo album design ,in use the programme photoshop, acdc, crome, matitasking wark
Hi Ramjiyani,
Thanks for asking!
If I may ask, how much are you willing to spend for this build?
You may also want to check the site’s PC Builder Tool. It’s a web-based tool that let’s you choose your use case and adjust the budget and gives you the best PC components/laptop recommendations based on your input. You can find the tool here: https://www.cgdirector.com/pc-builder/
Cheers,
Alex
If you are interested in learning PC building, this PC Building Simulator is a fun way to start. It doesn’t cover everything, like umbilicals and some other specs, but I think it does an alright job tilling the soil for someone who’s interested. I’ve been building for almost 15 years and this game is fun for me.
Hi Alex,
Hope you are fine.
I am using photoshop, indesign, after effects and illustrator and i want to change my laptop. I am checking ” Macbook Pro 13 inc-2.4GHz Quad-Core Processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz 256GB Storage Touch Bar and Touch ID” and “Macbook Pro 16 inc-2.6GHz 6-Core Processor 512GB Storage AMD Radeon Pro 5300M” . I am not doing 3D design or film editing but i am doing simple animation on after effects. Can you give me a advice, because i don’t want to buy slow machine. For example is it good 8 GB Ram or it should be 16 GB ram for graphic designer?
Hi Emilia,
Thanks for dropping a comment!
Nowadays, 16GB of RAM is the baseline but as you work on more complex projects or bigger scenes, it would be better if you have at least 32GB of RAM, sometimes even more. At this point, 8GB is okay might not be able to cut it anymore, so to speak.
In terms of laptop recommendation, I don’t tend to recommend Macs because you end up paying more and yet end up getting less in terms of price to performance ratio. For example, the “Macbook Pro 16 inc-2.6GHz 6-Core Processor 512GB Storage AMD Radeon Pro 5300M” you mentioned is currently priced at around $2,399.00. For a little less than that amount, you can get your hands on the more powerful MSI GS75 Stealth-248 17.3″ Gaming Laptop. Below are the specs of the GS75 Stealth:
CPU Intel Core i7-9750H 2.60GHz 6-Core Processor
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q 8GB
Memory(RAM) 32GB DDR4-2666
SSD 512GB NVMe Solid State Drive
HDD –
Weight 2.2 kg (~4.84pounds)
Display 17.3″, 1920×1080
The GS75 Stealth is available at around $2,302.48 and you get the same i7-9750H CPU as the Macbook Pro 16. However, for less than the price of the Mac, the GS75 Stealth comes with a whopping 32GB of RAM compared to just 16GB on the Macbook Pro 16. Not only that, the GS75 Stealth comes with an RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU with CUDA core acceleration which will come in handy in case you plan on using the GPU render engines. At it’s cheaper price point but more powerful specs, the MSI GS75 Stealth-248 17.3″ Gaming Laptop can’t be beat!
Cheers,
Alex
Thank your advice!
Hi Alex,
Hope you are doing good
I am purchasing this Apple Machine, Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina, Touch Bar, 2.6GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
Is this machine compatible for Photoshoot and Light room?
Hey Jeyan, yes absolutely! Adobe Software runs like a charm on Apple MacBooks.
Have fun!
Cheers,
Alex
Hi Alex,
i want to buy a surfaace book2, i7 8gb ram and geforce 1050 2gb. i will use photohop and lightroom to edit and export my raw photos (each time around 50 16mp image).
is 8gb ram enough for me for next 4 years? (i cant upgrade it)
Hey Frank,
I’d say 8GB of RAM is quite on the low end, especially if you plan on using the Surface Book for the next 4 years, and have to consider working with higher-res images down the line. There are Surface Books with 16GB of RAM. If you can swing it I’d recommend going with that amount.
Cheers,
Alex